DUSHANBE, August 8, 2008, Asia-Plus - Uzbekistan has adopted amendments to legislation to reduce the duty-free imports of essentials by half - from US $50 to US $25.

The Foreign Economic Relations, Investment and Trade Ministry''s press service has said that this measure had been prompted by cases of importing essentials to resell them in the country.

However, the ministry failed to explain how people could raise great profits by reselling goods worth US $50.